Market Watch

September natural gas futures slipped 3¢ Wednesday to close at $4.059 per million Btu, recovering from an early-session dip to $3.979. The contract has been trying to move back into the $4-teens -- the intraday high was $4.129 -- but fundamentals are losing their firmly bullish edge. The 12-month strip edged down 0.9¢ to $3.819. The 2022 calendar strip rose 0.5¢ to $3.59 (Futures contracts). * * * In the daily spot market, New England's Tennessee Gas Zone 6 saw the most significant price move of the day, rising 42¢ to $4.96, while Boston-area Algonquin advanced 34¢ to average $4.87. Elsewhere in the Northeast, Transco zone 6 New York was flat to average $4.09, This compared to benchmark Henry Hub cash prices that were down 4¢ at $4.07. In West Texas, cash prices at the Permian's Waha Hub fell 1¢ to average $3.85. Meanwhile, Rockies leader Kern/Opal fell 1¢ to $3.85, SoCal Citygate advanced 42¢ to average $7.50 and Northwest Sumas was flat to average $3.80. In Canada, Alberta benchmark Aeco fell 2¢ to $1.34 (Daily spot prices). * * * Oil prices neared $70 per barrel on Wednesday amid fresh US inflation concerns and a call from the White House for more supply from the Opec-plus coalition. The West Texas Intermediate September contract was up 96¢, ending the session at $69.25/bbl. Meanwhile, the US Energy Information Administration reported that crude inventories fell by 447,000 barrels last week and gasoline stockpiles shed 1.4 million barrels. Distillate inventories, however, were up for the second week in a row, this time by a sizable 1.8 million barrels.